Iced Earth

The clocks have sped up, we just had our first day of spring and things are looking on the up and up. You can feel it in the air as the sun shone the other day and everyone felt anticipation for the good weather on its way in.

It’s a very hopeful time of the year and the artists this week are the first performers to bring in this wonderful season: there’s 16 year old prodigy Billie Eilish, pop music’s savior from the likes of Britney Spears and company, the classic old school metal Iced Earth, and local working class musicians Naghmeh and the Southern Shores all playing in town this week.

Naghmeh and the Southern Shores: Local and Soulful

“Her love for nature and her positive vibes spill out of her music.. the energy of Naghmeh and the Southern Shores is contagious … leaves you wanting more.”

– Fred di Santo, Artist Relations @ Godin Guitars.

Come check out Iranian Canadian front woman Naghmeh Shafiei and her bandmates Don Pinkerton (drums), David Saveliosky (bass) and Seth Duin (lead guitar) for a late brunch performance at L’Escalier. Fusing Persian melodies and rhythms in her vocals with soulful rock and folk influences, Naghmeh draws bits and pieces from the likes of Metallica and The Eagles, and her open minded taste in several genres.

If you are a fan of melodramatic/quasi-sarcastic lyrics, you are sure to be entertained. It’s always a score to come see a band of seasoned performers play.

This hard working band plays a live gig or two every month, so the four-piece are not new to the scene. They’ve hit up Casa Del Popolo, Grumpys, and Brutopia among other well known bars.

Naghmeh had been gracing the stages of open mics in Vancouver, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Calgary, and Berlin prior to settling down in Montreal. And it shows. The energetic front woman has great stage presence and knows how to work a crowd.

“I often think and write about love and war, about friends and family, about gratitude and uncertainty. About all and nothing at all.”

Iced Earth

Hailing from Tampa Florida, birthplace of Death Metal, Iced Earth brings its 34 year rich history to Montreal. Spearheaded by founding member and main songwriter/guitarist Jon Schaffer, with 11 studio albums thus far, fans of bands like Death and Testament are in for a real treat.

.So come join Iced Earth for a night of old school thrash, power metal and that special Florida metal sound that grows alongside the orange tree groves of Sunkist.

The Noise and Heavy Montréal present Iced Earth performing with Sanctuary and Kill Ritual at Théâtre Corona, 2490 Notre-Dame Ouest, Sunday, March 25 at 7:30pm. Tickets available through Evenko

Billie Eilish

If you haven’t hear of 16 year old prodigy Billie Eilish, you’ve definitely heard her single Ocean Eyes that went viral and has 35 million streams on Spotify. The young musician is making waves, with Apple naming her their Upnext Artist last October.

Born into a family of actors and musicians, Eilish was raised and home schooled in Los Angeles where at age 11 she started writing songs with her brother. Although her songs are pop in nature, she’s got an unusual take on the genre.

“My first real song was about the zombie apocalypse…I literally watched The Walking Dead and I took little lines from it.”

Her song Bellyache is about a psychopath who s just killed all her friends. And her lyrics for the track Hostage are also unexpected:

I want to steal your soul
And hide in your treasure chest

The pop star also has a unconventional style: baggy pants, track suits, silver hair and likes wearing a Louis Vuitton scarf around her neck in the heat of the summer.

“I just like dressing out of my comfort zone. I want to dress in a way that if I was in a room full of people wearing regular clothes, I would be like “Oh I bet everyone’s looking at me. I want to feel that way. That’s my casual.”

Billie Eilish performs with Reo Cragun at Théâtre Corona, 2490 Notre-Dame Ouest, Tuesday, March 27 at 8pm. The show was originally moved from Fairmount Theatre because it was sold out but now is sold out at the larger venue as well

* Know a band or an artist that should be featured in Shows This Week? Maybe a show FTB should cover, too? Let us know at music@forgetthebox.net. Our week goes from Thursday to Wednesday, so let us know by the preceding Sunday, though not too much in advance, or you may get lost in the shuffle. We can’t be everywhere and can’t write about everything, but we do our best!